Dumped by your boss?

The psychological impact of being furloughed.

6.3 million UK workers – a quarter of all workers – have been furloughed according to HMRC figures in May. This shows in stark terms the scale of the economic shutdown in Britain and the potentially substantial economic cost that may follow.

But what about the human cost and the emotional cost, the experience of the individual? Kate Cooper, Head of Research, Policy & Standards at The Institute of Leadership & Management’s refers to being furloughed as “a rejection”.

A senior and very trusted ex-colleague, now friend of mine made the decision to furlough half of his team at the beginning of lockdown. He didn’t use set criteria for who was chosen but instead considered both the workload within the team and the personal circumstances of each member of staff. The latter was crucial in determining their ability to work from home given the new challenges of remote working in lockdown. A very unusual approach perhaps, but one that had foresight. It took into account the whole person, both their work life and their personal life, looking at the other pulls and stresses that they would be experiencing. We bring our whole selves to work – we carry the stresses of home life through the front door of our offices every day and then take the stresses of work back home with us at the end of the day. In lockdown there isn’t even a threshold to cross, no physical boundary between the two. When my friend decided to furlough his senior manager from the very start of lockdown, she was upset, feeling she had been marked as dispensable, and she began to question the security of her job.  Danny Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee from 2006-2009, has predicted that many of those who are furloughed could well be unemployed following the crisis, pushing unemployment to around 20 percent. This would be five times above the current official rate of four percent, according to data collected in February. As well as feeling rejected, perhaps she was also predicting she would be part of that statistic.

Fast forward 10 weeks, she thanks her boss, because as a mother with two young children, she is grateful for the time she has had managing extra child care duties and home schooling rather than keeping up with her job. He saw the whole person not just a member of staff, and probably both she and the business benefited from his foresight.

For others, being furloughed has brought a moment of pause and reflection, a chance to think about what’s important in life. I’ve personally received messages from two people who have decided they want to make a career transition. They’ve had chance to think about what they really want in life, have realised that they are not truly aligned to the purpose or values of their current employer. They are ready to make changes, take a risk and try something new.

The amazing weather we have been experiencing has given others the chance to sunbathe, light up the BBQ, do the garden, fix up the house and just generally kick back and enjoy the extra time.

However, in Furlough Fear: Understanding the Experience of Furloughed Staff, Woodcock reveals that it's only 21% of respondents who align themselves with the statement: “Now I am furloughed, I feel okay and have no concerns.”

The figures are significantly higher when the statement is reframed to account for issues such as loss of purpose (55%), loss of routine (59%), loss of connection with one’s firm (63%) and fear of future redundancy (81%). (Woodcock, 20 May 2020)

For many, therefore, the psychological impact of being furloughed has been negative. We all have, to varying degrees, an implicit psychological contract with our employer and during lockdown without regular contact from your manager connecting you to the business, this may be damaged or worse still, broken. This can result in a loss of trust which creates feelings of uncertainty, worry and anxiety that then turns into more worry, causing a vicious emotional cycle. We feel a lack of control, that we are powerless which again activates more worry and rumination and a sense of unfairness – why me?

Trust with our employer and specifically our manager is crucial to our wellbeing, our productivity and our discretionary effort at work. As the Dutch saying goes, 'Trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback'. How we feel when we return to work may be significantly impacted by the connection we did or didn’t have whilst we were away from the workplace.

Employment in general is a key driver of wellbeing. On a basic level it provides financial security and routine, but a good job also provides purpose, identity, support and social connection. Those who have been furloughed may feel excluded. This awakens feelings suggestive of threat and social pain, which when activated in the brain is akin to physical pain. Where once you were accepted, where you had an identity, you are now excluded and have lost status. Epidemiologist, Michael Marmot found in his Whitehall study in 2004 that people with higher status have better health, are happier and live longer.  

This is serious stuff with real consequences.

The importance of protecting and promoting employee wellbeing starts to come into sharp focus. How can employers and leaders ensure they have a workforce ready, able and motivated to come back to work?

Open conversations go a long way in keeping colleagues feeling connected, especially if they are supportive and take an interest in the individual. Through transparent dialogue the senior manager with two young children realised that her boss had understood her particular circumstances when making his choice about who was furloughed. And it was a decision that ultimately was good for everyone.  Leaders must also empathise with their employee’s potential feeling of rejection and, as far as possible, take positive steps to address that.

If employers are able to positively affect the psychological wellbeing of all employees, furloughed or not, evidence tells us that not only does productivity increase, but that employees perceive their workload as less stressful, resulting in the business experiencing less attrition.

Whilst we may be seeing some restrictions lifted, we know there is a long way to go yet and the wellbeing of employees should still be a priority. The efforts made to maintain contact during remote working or furlough should now be put towards protecting wellbeing. We’re moving into unprecedented times in which resilience will be key. It’s critical to not just future proof your business, but to future proof your people too.

People will forget what you did, forget what you said, but not how you made them feel.